God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew & John Sherrill & Elizabeth Sherrill

Author:Brother Andrew & John Sherrill & Elizabeth Sherrill
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Religion, Evangelism, Christian, Missions, Christian Ministry
ISBN: 9781441262677
Publisher: Baker Books
Published: 2001-10-01T00:00:00+00:00

12

COUNTERFEIT CHURCH

Corrie and I were married in Alkmaar on June 27, 1958. Greetje was there and Mr. Ringers and many others from the factory, as well as a whole busload of nurses from Haarlem. Uncle Hoppy came from London with greetings from his wife, who was not strong enough for the trip. There were friends from WEC headquarters, co-workers from the refugee camps, and of course Corrie’s mother and my brothers and sisters and their families. For me there were missing faces: Antonin, the medical student in Czechoslovakia. Jamil and Nikola in Yugoslavia. Janos and Professor B.

It was dark before we could tear ourselves away from so many friends and recollections. For the honeymoon we had borrowed Karl de Graaf’s house trailer. We had talked romantically about driving to France. But setting out, we realized suddenly how tired we were, Corrie from her final examinations, just ended, I from the work in the refugee camps, where I had spent most of my time since our engagement. A few miles from Alkmaar we came to a restaurant in that rarity in Holland, a grove of trees. We parked beneath them and went in for coffee. And so cordial were the owner and his wife, so insistent that the trailer was no trouble, that that’s as far as we got. We pulled the trailer a little deeper under the trees and spent our honeymoon right there.

THE DARK AND DANK LITTLE ROOM above the shed wasn’t dark or dank at all! How could I ever have thought so! With Corrie, sunshine and warmth came into the place and made it home.

So we didn’t have a kitchen. So there was no plumbing in our home. So the roof did leak a bit here and there, and never two nights in the same place. What did it matter as long as we were together?

The only problem of any size was the clothing bundles. I had talked in churches all over Holland about the need for clothes in the refugee camps and suggested my address as a place where things might be sent. I never dreamed how much would come! It came by mail, by train, by truck, load after load deposited in the tiny front yard in Witte. Eight tons were delivered that first year, and the problem of storage was acute. Maartje was married now and living with her husband’s family, but Arie and Geltje had a second child, and Cornelius and his new wife were living in the loft. There was no place for the clothes but our own room. Corrie and I had literally to scramble over bales of clothing each time we went in or out our door.

The worst of it was that so much of it came unwashed. We would scrub the dirtiest things in a tub in the backyard, and brush and spray the rest, but our room was never without fleas.

Transporting such a quantity of stuff was another problem. I packed the car as full as I could

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